There is currently a large unmet need in the U.S. pet industry, in particular with respect to cats as indoor pets. There are approximately 86.4 million owned cats in the United States. Three in ten (or 38.9 million) U.S. households own at least one cat. One half of cat-owning households (52%) own one cat; the remaining (48%) own two or more.
Although cats certainly rank high on the list of America's favorite pets, the damage that cats cause to carpets by scratching is significant when viewed on an individual household basis. Millions of dollars are spent every year in replacing damaged carpets. This represents a large and challenging financial investment for the average American household.
There are a multitude of products that deal with the problem of scratching cats. Some products attempt to discourage cats from scratching, such as adhesive tape for corners of furniture and even drastic shocking devices. Other products attempt to encourage cats to scratch and sharpen their nails on specific “allowed” areas, such as various cardboard scratch-products. However, current products fail to effectively protect the perhaps most vulnerable targeted area by scratching cats—the carpet inside and around the interior doorways of people's homes. One can easily testify to this pattern of scratching behavior by simple observation—carpets in these areas are often far more damaged than other areas. Although some products are configured to fit around the doorway or area around a door, such products are configured for a tight fit so as to snap into the door jam or required to simultaneously touch opposing door jambs. Consequently, snap-in products can be too tight and, at best, are only configured for use in a door that specifically matches the shape of the device due to size variations in door moldings and baseboards, thus making it impossible to effectively satisfy the unmet needs of scratching cat owners on any significant scale.
For whatever the multitude of reasons people choose to close their doors, cats do not respond well to closed doors. Therefore cats instinctively begin to scratch and tear the carpet at doorways, making this specific area particularly vulnerable.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for devices and methods that effectively deal with the issue of cat scratching on carpets, particularly around the areas of doors.